Some Gyaan In Your Inbox

Balance – A to Z of Self Leadership

Last month, Patrick Pichette, the CFO of Google, sent in his resignation. Having worked for 7 years with Google, he said he was resigning to spend more time with his family. You can read his note on Google + in which he explains how he came to this decision. While on holiday, his wife asked him when it was going to be what she called ‘be time’, ‘me time’ and ‘our time’. Pichette says in his note, “In the end, life is wonderful, but nonetheless a series of trade offs, especially between business/professional endeavours and family/community.”

An important aspect of self-leadership is finding that balance between working, relationships, interests and making sure that you are healthy too. It’s easy to get so caught up in work, when work is our passion and work is fun. But we’ve got to learn how to create space and time for everything else.

“Life without balance can cost you your relationships. Life without balance can cost you your health. Life without balance can cost you your spirituality. Life without balance can cost you your wealth and your happiness. So find things to motivate you from all areas of life. Your success depends on it.”
—Jim Rohn

Action Steps:
Write down the words ‘work’ ‘relationships’ ‘health’ ‘interests’ on a piece of paper. Then write down three things in each are you need more of and three things you need less of. Try to eliminate the unessential. This is an ongoing exercise that calls for awareness and honesty. You have to keep checking to see how it works, until you find balance. At some points, one area may need more focus than another.

[Tweet “Work, love and play are the great balance wheels of man’s being. #atozchallenge”]

Comments

Coming from someone who has had more than her fair share of burnouts, this post really resonates with me. As i sit here with fatigue washing over me again, I am searching for the means to live a more peaceful life that is conducive with my mind and body and which allows D and I to live a life where we can simply ‘be’ more.

Hi Corinne! I loved the exercise. I just did it, couldn’t have taken more than 5 to 10 minutes. I found it interesting that in my “more” lists the words were actionable items, such as writing, sleeping, and reading, while the “less” lists contained negative emotions and energy that can take away from my sense of inner peace and balance, such as anxiety, rushing, and nervous energy. I can see how this would be a great exercise to do periodically over time. I have a list of 5 major life areas that I use to focus my goals and affirmations. I plan on doing this with those areas and making it a part of my routine of reviewing goals and affirmations. Thank you!

I agree, Corinne. Balance is key. I loved the quote > “In the end, life is wonderful, but nonetheless a series of trade offs, especially between business/professional endeavours and family/community.” Especially love your action steps at the end. I certainly need some balance right now. I am going to act on those steps. Thanks for sharing 🙂

So much to and so less a time 🙂 But will we do if we have no time time stand and stare.. sorry for blotching up a beautiful poem but this is the first thought that came to mind after I read this post. Balancing is so important and to reach the perfect balance in life is so diff. Great post Corinne 🙂

I\’d love to have some balance in my life, but living alone can be an asset as well as a problem. My time is my own and I can do what I\’d like, but at the same time, I am now the only one available to pay all expenses, so what I do with my time is also determined by that factor. In essence, though, balancing my life is simply setting my present priorities down and juggling them around to let the real priorities rise to the top.

Oh yes, balance is so important in life! I used to be a corporate workaholic and got burnt out in the process. Life is much better now that I’m actually enjoying it (well, most of the time). 😀 As the old saying goes: Nobody, on their deathbed, ever regretted not spending more time at work. Cheers!

Thank you for your post on balance. I’ve been taking a time out from social media, blogging and some other commitments in an effort to achieve just that. Balance in health, writing, service and love. It’s not quite time for me to jump back into things, but I’m getting there. (I didn’t slow down on loving because I am blessed to be greatly loved.)

I agree with the comments made. I have learned to balance my time so that my family a getnd me more personal attention. It can’t all be about work. This is a reflective post and theme, Connie. I will return to read more.

Balance is not part of our culture here in Silicon Valley, so Pichette is acting out of the norm for the business world here. At the same time, he has built enough wealth that he can retire, when most people are forced to continue in this imbalanced world. Still, the concept of balance needs to be applied, i agree!

When I started working for the first time, I used to give whole of myself to work. And when weekend comes I was all drained out. But as time went, I learned to maintain that balance. But now and then I get back to that zombie work mode. But learning gradually.

Work life balance is such an important topic. I was recently a guest speaker at a women’s group where I discussed 6 key areas. You can gain access to the presentation by visiting my site. You will see the pop up for it:)

All things in life must balance is something I tell myself and others often. It’s okay to go off balance sometimes but the trick is to be aware that you have gone off balance and then do something to bring it back on even keel. I’m Libra and I know that when my scales are unbalanced, I just don’t feel good.

You are so right that balance is very, very important. I feel blessed that my job feels like my favourite hobby most of the time, but I know for a fact my husband works too hard.
Tasha
Tasha’s Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

Balance is Just the right word for me corinne, as you rightly pointed out, its an ongoing process – at different times in life, I found myself losing balance, and after years I am still learning to keep the balance…….. great post !

I have learnt this lesson the hard way. Without a balance, you can find yourself deteriorating day by day. This affects the people we love too. Great post, Corinne! I’m loving these inspirational posts.

Balance is one of my favorite words, Corinne. Without it, life is a mess. I read Patrick’s note – and also saw it in my news feed and wondered what it must have felt like to let go at the top. I know how I felt when I resigned my job after I got married – it was a decision I took very consciously and never regretted it. My folks would tease me about “Those glory days” and I was able to laugh with them. But it takes so much strength to reach that decision. When we believe that we are in the “right place” at any point of time, everything looks beautiful.

Just realized that I “B”-ed the heck out of my comment! Love and hugs. So love the graphic!

I do struggle a lot to find balance, especially on the health front. When I give too much importance to other works, I forget taking out ‘Me Time’. Got to practice the exercise and see if it works! Thanks for the tip Corinne 🙂